Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The IndyStar.com reports a shooting took place Monday night in Georgetown Indiana after a woman called the Sheriff's office for what seemed to be a domestic disturbance with her son.

At this point, authorities have no motive for the shooting. "The teen, Tyler Dumstorf, had shot the deputies Monday evening and was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot early Tuesday inside the home about 13 miles outside Louisville, Ky., authorities said. Dumstorf used the M1 Garand in the shooting, prosecutor Keith Henderson said. He said the boy's father bought the gun some time ago and that he and his son shot it during target practice. The gun is a showpiece, and possessing one is not illegal, the prosecutor said. 'The cause of yesterday's tragedy isn't the weapon. It's the person who fired it,' he said."

Amazing statement of fact from the prosecutor! The gun wasn't the criminal, the shooter was. We don't know why the teen did what he did, but we do know that the gun didn't make him do it. It's always hard to read that someone thought shooting someone was a rational choice, but it was his choice and his alone. Because Tyler was a minor, we'll never know what led to his decision to pull the trigger. We can only speculate.

This story illustrates another fact. The Garand is a perfectly legal rifle. Unfortunately, the prosecutor had to indicate that the rifle was indeed something that a citizen can possess, though he said the rifle was considered a "showpiece." We can see by the original Associated Press headline for the story that they wanted to insinuate some evil with the weapon. The Enemy Press AP headline reads "Officials: Teen used WWII-era rifle," as if its status as a military weapon made the crime more heinous. Another example of how the Enemy Press tries to demonize those who use the guns, and the guns themselves.

Acts such as these are unfortunate, but what's worse is the knowledge that those who hate your right to possess guns will use these tragedies to further their agenda of limiting freedom. As long as people are willing to kill, there will always be gun violence. Sadly, those who don't care about maintaining liberties will just follow along with the crowd and let those with sinister motives continue to attempt to restrict, and then ban your right to own weapons for self defense and to resist tyranny.

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ScottG